What would YOU have said?

No. 3: Suppose, for his next speech, Shumlin chooses to single out an environmental issue that felicitously corresponds to your own advocacy. How would you advise him to expand the emphasis of his speech to include broader environmental concerns?

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Keith Brunner, organizer, Rising Tide Vermont: The governor would be wise to listen to his own advice in prioritizing prevention rather than grappling with the aftermath of addiction. Rather than deepening our communities’ dependance on fossil fuels, we should instead be prioritizing funding to address both climate change and the growing fuel/poverty crisis in our communities — through an ambitious weatherization program, especially for low-income Vermonters and renters.

Roger Rainville, chairman of the Franklin County-based Farmers Watershed Alliance: I am shocked that the environment and water quality was not addressed on Wednesday. I do not make light of the severity of opiate addiction, as I personally know the Machia family that the governor focused his speech around.

Water quality is one of the biggest issues that this state faces and must not be ignored. Agriculture has always been targeted for water quality issues and the Machia family has always been proactive participants in water quality practices on their farms.

We all need to work together to do our part. The State of Vermont has been given a big task to reduce phosphorus loading into its waters and as of yet has not achieved a targeted goal of reducing the TMDL (total maximum daily load) of phosphorus. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has given us another shot at achieving this goal and we do not have the luxury to get it wrong.

Pointing fingers will not work. Our waters are one of our most important natural resources. It is so easy to overlook this slow-moving disaster. But not addressing this problem with all of the resources we have available would be an injustice for generations to come.

The agriculture field knows what is needed to correct its issues. Everything costs money. The key is to use what we have as wisely as possible. We did it with Hurricane Irene. We cut through the red tape and accomplished in months what we were told would take years and at a fraction of the cost.

We need to implement practices that work (and make sure that what we are doing really does work) and get the money out ASAP so that farmers do not have to wait for months to get reimbursed. We don’t have the luxury to put a little money here and there just to keep everybody happy. We have to target the most severe areas of water impairment and fix them. I wish we only had one issue to deal with but we don’t. Life is more than human form, it’s our environment.

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Brian Shupe, executive director of Montpelier-based nonprofit Vermont Natural Resources Council: We would advise him to articulate a comprehensive vision for Vermont’s future in the face of climate change and to lay out the steps needed to achieve that vision. He would acknowledge that Vermont’s natural environment and landscape is absolutely critical to the state’s long-term economic well-being and the health of our population. He would emphasize that the planet’s resources are not infinite, and we need to stop behaving as if they are. He would expand on his successes, including his support for land conservation and working lands enterprises, but acknowledge that these strategies alone are not adequate to address the environmental and land use challenges that we face. He would call on the legislature to take aggressive action on several fronts, including: updating the state’s 40-year-old land use policies, including Act 250, to address today’s environmental and land use concerns; updating and strengthening the current use program and improving opportunities to keep farm and forest ownership economically viable for Vermonters; expanding energy efficiency and conservation programs to address home heating across the state; abandoning outdated energy solutions, including the expansion of the Vermont Gas pipeline; and, finally, taking the steps needed to clean up, and prevent future pollution of, the state’s rivers, lakes and ponds.

Annette Smith, executive director of Danby-based nonprofit Vermonters for a Clean Environment: Environmental health issues are often the root cause of sickness, and sick people need medical care and medications. I would advise Gov. Shumlin to expand his emphasis on prevention of preventable illness by reducing exposure to harmful substances, including toxic chemicals, electromagnetic radiation EMR (or radio frequency, RF, however you wish to refer to it), and focus on protecting people from harm that is easily predicted such as wind turbine noise.

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Rob Roper, president of Concord-based nonprofit Ethan Allen Institute: I would urge the governor to emphasize future energy sources that minimize land use. Vermont’s greatest asset is its signature unspoiled landscape. The biggest threat to the future of this asset is the state’s current goal of reaching 90 percent renewable energy consumption, mostly from in-state energy production facilities, by the year 2050.

The amount of land (ridgelines for windmills, acres of pasture for solar panels, harvested forest for biomass ...) that must be sacrificed to meet this goal is staggeringly large. It will radically scar the beauty of Vermont, as well as pervert the natural habitats of many species. As a tourist state, I have to believe it will have a negative impact on this critical aspect of our economy, as people driving up I-89 want to see fields of cows, not fields of solar panels; majestic mountain horizons, not spinning industrial power plants.

The governor and our Legislature are preparing to turn a very big portion of of the most beautiful state in America into a electricity generating factory. That’s hardly an environmentalist agenda, though it somehow passes for one. Finally, if the governor did felicitously address this issue, we will solve global warming as well, because hell will have frozen over!

Gabrielle Stebbins, executive director of Montpelier-based nonprofit and trade group Renewable Energy Vermont: While there are countless environmental issues that are of great importance, the key environmental issue of our time is climate change — therefore, addressing our energy use through increased renewables and efficiency in transportation, heating and electricity is the key driver for a planet that remains habitable for life as we know it.

James Ehlers, executive director of Lake Champlain International: Rather than speculate about an upcoming speech, I would like to appeal to the governor’s profound sense of concern for the welfare of our fellow Vermonters and to employ his extraordinary leadership skills to lead the effort for investment in what is arguably the cornerstone of healthy communities — clean, safe water. The threats to our drinking and recreational waters continue to mount — be they economic or human health-related in nature or both.

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Therein lies the opportunity, however. An opportunity to create jobs. An opportunity to strengthen local food initiatives. An opportunity to nurture innovative energy, recycling, and waste management technology. The occasion to build and support sustainable, resilient communities that offer the hope and opportunity the governor seeks to foster for Vermonters. ...

I agree with the governor that we share an “obligation to deliver a better quality of life for everyone.” I agree that all Vermonters “deserve to live in a state ... where we have a clean environment, where we have good jobs.”

I agree, as well, “there remains more work to do,” and we at LCI already have our boots on ready to help the governor get after the task at hand — a stronger, safer Vermont brimming with hope and opportunity for all, regardless of income.

Chris Kilian, director of the Conservation Law Foundation in Vermont: The governor should shift the focus of the debate over Lake Champlain cleanup away from a discussion of public costs and toward a discussion of economic opportunities in reduction, recovery and reuse of the phosphorus that is choking the Lake. There is huge opportunity for sustainable economic development through investment in green infrastructure that supports green jobs and helps mitigate flooding risks while also reducing pollution.

Vermont’s economy would benefit from greater support of fledgling efforts to recover and export commodity-grade phosphorus — a valuable and essential ingredient in commercial fertilizers — from our existing municipal and agricultural water pollution waste streams.

With a shift in focus, the governor could lead Vermont to a clean Lake Champlain that drives our economic success into the future.

Pam Arborio, Brighton resident; co-founding board member of grassroots advocacy group Save Our Senecas: SOS expects much more from our state leader than a one-pony show. I won’t negate the importance of the drug epidemic but when an entire list of vital issues stretch from one end of our state to the other, one would think finer brushes might be used.

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The Northeast Kingdom is under threat of the most destructive wind project on record. The governor has said on numerous occasions it will not be built. ... Conserve this last vestige of our ridgerunners and migratory paths. ... Stand up and ask your agencies (Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife, Public Service) and all other groups waiting for your permission, to move ahead with what they already know: the Eolian/Seneca Mountain Wind Project is wrong, for so many reasons. Listen to us, the volunteer groups spending time and hard-earned money, as we oppose Big Wind and out-of-state, foreign companies.

And if, by chance, you actually follow through on the rejection of this project, perhaps those of us that have lost complete faith in your leadership will gladly stand up and cheer beside you, once again a team wishing to move our state in the right direction.

Kathryn Blume, board chairwoman for nonprofit 350VT: Gov. Shumlin concluded his speech on Wednesday by saying, “All of us, together, will drive toward our goal of recovery by working with one another creatively, relentlessly, and without division.” He could say exactly the same thing about responding to the immense challenges of climate change, rapidly zeroing out our carbon emissions, and building a clean, sustainable, and resilient future for all the people of Vermont.